Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Rewritten
by Percy19
Summary: Flames are accepted. FYI, in this Harry has a twin sister. Also I don't own Harry Potter. If I did own this Fred would still be alive. And there will be some changes in the plot to accommodate adding a major character. Please read and if you want review. Hope you enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
I was sitting down and listening to my iPod. I had just finished my summer work and was ready to stop the math problems swirling around my head. You see my mother wants me to be the smartest in school, so she gives me work to do during the summer. I couldn't do anything else until it was done. I had just turned 11 and I was behind in the work. I looked into the mirror on the wall of my room. My curly, black hair; tan skin; and emerald green eyes made me the black sheep in my family, where everyone had straight, blonde hair; blue eyes; and slightly tan skin from the sun. I live in a small town in Ohio, where most families were farmers. My family isn't a family of farmers, but we are out in the sun a lot, anyways. I wasn't always tan, in fact, I used to be fairly pale. Weirdly enough, I tanned much easier than my mom, my cousin, and the rest of my family. Maybe it's has something to do with the fact that I'm always outside playing soccer. I got up and walked downstairs. My mom motioned for me to take put my ear buds.  
"Carmella, go get the mail." She told me. I put my ear buds back in and went out to the mailbox. I got the mail out and started to sort through it. There was an envelope addressed to me. I walked in and gave the rest of the mail to my mom and sat down to open the envelope.  
"What's that?" My mom's boyfriend, Jason, leered at me. Jason is a major creep, who looked at me in ways that make me feel uncomfortable. He never did when my mom was around, though. I wanted to tell her, but she seemed happy and I didn't want to ruin it.  
"None of your business. You know, since it's addressed to me and not you." I replied. My mom glared at me, but didn't say anything. I opened the envelope and read the letter. I reread it three times before I comprehended it. I got up and showed it to my mom. She read it and then she did something really weird. She started smiling.  
"Hey, Jason, Honey, how about you go get us some pizza?" Mom said. He grumbled, but got up and left. She turned to me and smiled. She came up and hugged me. Then, all of a sudden, an old man popped up out of nowhere. He had a long white beard and twinkling blue eyes. He was wearing robes and a pointy hat. His eyes had wrinkles around them that let you know that he smiled a lot.  
"Tamara, it's such a pleasure to see you again." He said to my mom. He turned to me and smiled.  
"You raised her well, I see. She looks so much like her mother and father, and from what I hear her brother as well."

I looked at him funny. _Why is he talking about my mom like she isn't here? And what is he talking about, when he said I look like my brother? I don't have a brother. _I turned to my mom for answers.  
"Sit down, Carmella." I sat down and looked at her expectantly. "Carmella, I'm not really your mom. I took you in when your real parents were killed. I'm cousins with your father. Our family is that of magic, only long ago a dark wizard took the power away from my grandmother. That is why she came to America. Her brother was lucky and didn't have the curse put on him. Your father is a descendant of him. Your real name is Carmella Elizabeth Potter." I stared at her like she was crazy, which I would say she was except for the fact that I saw the man appear out of thin air. I had a lot of questions, but decided to ask the one that I most wanted to know the answer to.  
"What of the fact that this man just said I had a brother?" I said, pointing to the man. I was so confused and curious.  
"I can answer this one. Carmella, you have a twin brother named Harry. We split you guys up, so that you guys would be safe and so that no one could exploit you guys. Harry lives with your mother's sister back in England, where your from. My name, by the way, is Professor Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizarding."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
I was still in shock. Dumbledore was talking to my mom, I decided to call her that still, while I was staring at them incredulously. They would occasionally stop talking and glance over at me. I was still processing the information that I had a twin brother and that I was adopted. It explained why I was so different from everyone, though. They finally stopped talking completely and turned to me.

"Carmella, I shall be taking you with me to get school supplies in Diagon Alley." Dumbledore told me, smiling. I looked toward my mom and saw she was nodding. Dumbledore held out his hand. I took it and suddenly I wasn't in my front room anymore, I was in an alley lined with shops. There were tons of people in brightly colored robes. Dumbledore led me into a bookshop after we went to a bank called Gringotts. In the bookshop there was a crowd of people all with pale skin and red hair. There was an older women, a boy with curly hair that looks prissy, twin brothers who had mischievous looks on their faces, a boy who was staring into the quidditch store across the ally, and a girl who looked bored. Dumbledore sent me to find the books I needed.

I was looking for one more. I spotted it and tried to reach for it. It was just out of my reach and it frustrated me. Suddenly someone reached over me and grabbed it. I turned around and came face to face with one of the ginger twins.

"Do you need this?" he asked, giving me a crooked smile. It was in that moment I knew that he was a notorious prankster. I also knew that because of this we were going to be great friends. I smiled back at him. He seemed a little startled and gave me the book.  
"Hi, my name Fred Weasley. What's your name? And why were you walking in with Dumbledore?" Fred asked me. He still had his hand on the book. When he realized it, his hand dropped.  
"My name is Carmella Potter. As to why I was walking in with Dumbledore, I need supplies and I'm from America, so my adoptive mom can't take me." As soon as I mentioned my name, he started looking at me like I was famous. His twin was walking toward us now. I knew that he was just like his brother and that we also were going to be great friends. Fred's brother looked back and forth between us and raise his eyebrow. I rolled my eyes at him and he started to laugh.  
"Fred, I feel as though we found ourselves a new friend. My name is George, by the way," he said. I looked at him and saw that he was serious about it. I laughed and said bye. I went to the front of the store and paid for my books, school related and personal pleasure alike. I went to the front door and saw Dumbledore there talking to the ginger woman that I saw earlier.  
"Ah, here she is now. Molly I would like you to meet Carmella Potter, Carmella I would like you to meet Molly Weasley. You are the same age as her son Ron," said Dumbledore. I smiled and waved at the woman. She immediately started telling me how cute I am and how she hoped that I had fun at Hogwarts. I liked her, immediately. She seemed like a naturally nice person and she was very motherly. Dumbledore talked to her a little bit longer and then excused us. I waved bye to Mrs. Weasley and the twins, as I saw them going toward their mother. They both waved back and mouthed see ya later.  
We then went and got my wand which was cherry wood with a core of a hair from Pegasus. After we got my wand we went and got my robe fitting done. While we were there I met a blonde boy who wore way too much hair gel. He introduced himself as Draco Malfoy. I immediately didn't like him. He seemed snobby and appeared even more so when I told him who I was. He was telling me who I should and shouldn't hang out with. I should hang out with him and his friends and I shouldn't hang out with people like the Weasleys. (It's so obvious who they are. Just look for the gingers in hand-me-down clothes.) I got annoyed quickly and so I told him to leave me alone.  
Right now I was picking out a pet. Dumbledore was buying it for me as a birthday present. I want an owl. Finally I saw a tawny barn owl that I knew was the one. After we got the owl, we went and got ice cream. As we were standing in line, I saw Mrs. Weasley and her kids. Dumbledore waved her over.  
"Molly, I hate to ask but will you keep an eye on Carmella? I just had some urgent business come up." he asked her. Mrs. Weasley told him that she would loved to do so. Dumbledore thanked her and hurried away. I noticed that the kids were looking wistfully at the ice cream. It made me think of what Malfoy said about them wearing hand-me-downs. _They probably can't afford little indulgences like this. _I walked up to Mrs. Weasley.  
"Hey, why don't you guys get in line? I'll pay for you guys to have some ice cream," I said. She looked like she was going to argue and then she saw looks on her kids faces. She turned to me and just nodded and hugged me. I hugged her back and motioned for everyone to get in line. They were so happy that it was contagious.  
"I would like three scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream," Fred and I said at the same time. We looked at each other and laughed. George muttered something about how only freaks like mint chocolate chip ice cream. He ordered three scoops of rocky road, while Carrot Top ordered a scoop of vanilla, Ron, at least I think it's Ron, ordered three scoops of chocolate, the girl ordered one scoop of vanilla and one of chocolate, and Mrs. Weasley ordered two scoops of vanilla. I paid and then we all sat down at two tables we pushed together.

"Now kids what do we say?" Mrs. Weasley asked. They all thanked me. I waved it off. They did official introductions and then they all started asking me about America. I answered all of their questions and told them about muggle life as well. They were fascinated.  
"So is their a prank shop here?" I asked them. Fred and George looked at each other and then at me, their mouths wide open. Percy scowled at me and Mrs. Weasley smiled at her twin sons amazement. They were still staring me with their mouths wide open.  
We finished our ice cream while Fred and George stayed in their stupor. I leaned over and snapped in their faces. They snapped out of it and started eating their melting ice cream. We all laughed at them as ice cream dribbled down their chins. Once they finished we all got up and walked outside. Once we got outside we saw Dumbledore walking toward us.

"Thank you, again Molly. I'm owe you a favor," he said, once he reached us.  
'No, Albus, we owe her. She bought us all ice cream. Multiple scoops and the expensive flavors," Mrs. Weasley replied. I blushed. I had only wanted to make them happy, too. Dumbledore smiled and told them that it was time for him to take me home. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny hugged me goodbye. Percy shook my hand, Ron gave me a high five, and the twins both gave me fist bumps. I smiled and waved goodbye to everyone and took the hand Dumbledore offered me and then I was no longer in Diagon Alley. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
My mom was really excited to see all my stuff when I got back. Jason was at work, so I didn't have to worry about him finding out. I showed her my wand and my owl. I told her about my day and how I made friends with the Weasley's. While I was gone my mom went and got an owl, too, so that she could send me owls while I was away. I went to bed feeling happier than I have in a while. The next few weeks went by slowly, but finally it was time for Dumbledore to come back and apparate me to the train station. I hugged my mom and my grandparents goodbye.  
Dumbledore showed up right on time. He said hello to everyone and then he asked me if I was ready. I told him I was and he held out his hand I waved bye and took it. I was at a train station when I opened my eyes and Dumbledore was gone. I found a cart and put my stuff on it. I took my ticket out of my pocket. It said that I needed to go to platform 9 ¾. I looked around for it, but didn't see it. I was about to go ask someone, when I heard Mrs. Weasley telling someone where it is.  
I walked toward her voice and found her explaining to a kid with hair as black as mine. I walked toward them. Ginny looked up and smiled at me. I smiled back. The boy ran toward a pillar, but surprisingly enough he didn't crash into it. He ran right through it. Ron went and then Ginny and Mrs. Weasley walked through it. I followed their example and ran through it, too. I pass through it and on the other side there was a bright scarlet train. There were a lot kids. I loaded my stuff where it was suppose to go and got on the train. I saw a compartment that only had Ron and that boy from earlier. I opened the door and asked if I could sit with them. They nodded and smiled.  
"Hi Ron. How are you?" I asked Ron.  
"Hi and I'm fine. Carmella I have someone that I think you should meet," he said. He turned to the boy, which I now notice has emerald green eyes like me. A realization dawned upon me.  
"You're my brother, Harry Potter!" I exclaimed. The realization seemed to have dawned upon him, too. He got up and hugged me. I hugged him back as tight as I could. I've always wanted a sibling, someone I could cause mischief with. When he hugged me I felt like I found a piece of me that I never knew was missing. I know it sounds corny, but it's true. Harry pulled back and looked me in the eyes. In that moment I knew two things. One is that twin telepathy is real and two is that he felt the same thing.  
"It's really true. I have a twin sister, who looks a lot like me," he said, smiling. I felt like I was grinning like an idiot. I saw Ron smiling at us and rolled my eyes. I turned back to Harry. I couldn't wait to get to know him. I wonder how alike we are. I asked him about himself and about how he grew up. He answered and in turn he asked me those same questions. I was appalled by the Dursleys and he was horrified by Jason. I learned about him and he learned about me. We also learned about Ron and his family, so that he would feel included. Ron was telling us about a spell Fred gave him that supposedly suppose to turn his rat, Scampers, yellow. Scampers was a fat rat who liked human food and was lazy. He ate some of the candy we bought from the candy cart earlier and has been asleep ever since.  
The door to the department opened and we all turned to it. In the door stood a girl with frizzy brown hair. She was already in her robes and she looked at us a little disapprovingly. She glanced around the compartment looking at Ron's wand, Harry holding Dumbledore's card, and me with my book. She smiled at me like I was a potential friend and frowned at Harry and Ron.  
"Have you guys seen a toad? A boy named Neville lost his," she told us. We shook our heads no and she sighed.  
"Doing magic, are you? Well let's see it," she told Ron. Ron gulped and did the spell. The spell didn't do anything, as we all thought.  
"I don't think that was a real spell. I have been practicing and they all worked," she said. She walked over and sat across from Harry. She pointed her wand at him and did a spell that fixed his glasses.  
"Oh wow. Your Harry Potter and you must be Carmella Potter. I've read all about you. I'm Hermione. Who are you?" She said, directing the last question at Ron. Ron introduced himself. Hermione got up and walked to the door. She told us that we should put on our robes and then she left.  
We got our robes on and sat waiting to get to Hogwarts. When we got there a gigantic man was calling first years over. Harry told me his name was Hagrid. Hagrid was happy to see Harry, but when he saw me he swept me up into a huge hug.  
"Carmella, it's so good to see you," he said. I hugged him back. He told about how he hasn't seen me since I was a baby. I smiled and he then seemed to realize he needed to take us to the castle. It was a magnificent castle and the view from the lake was amazing. When we got inside the castle everyone rushed up the stairs. Harry, Ron, and I pushed to the front. I saw Malfoy and groaned. He looked like he was going to talk to Harry and when he saw me it looked like he changed his mind.  
A stern looking woman was trying to call attention. She introduced herself as Professor McGonagall and explained about the houses and the sorting ceremony. Once she was done, she led us into the Great Hall. The room was filled with people. There were four very long tables, each one decorated with different colors to represent the different houses. I saw Fred, George, and Percy sitting at the table decorated with scarlet and gold. Fred and George waved and gave me a thumbs up. I smiled at them. There was a fifth table that I guess was for the teachers, because a lot of adults sat there.

Professor McGonagall pulled a scroll out of her robe. On the stool next to her was a hat that looked like it had a face. McGonagall called Hermione up and placed the hat on her head. Hermione was put in Gryffindor. Next was Malfoy and he was put in Slytherin. Neville in Gryffindor. Hannah in Hufflepuff. Ron was put in Gryffindor. When he went to sit next to Fred, Fred shoved him over and told him something.  
It was my turn now. I walked up when McGonagall called my name. Before I went up Harry squeezed my hand for good luck. I went and sat on the stool. Then the hat was dropped onto my head. _A Potter? You have a little of each of the houses in you. You would do well in any of them. How about Slytherin? You would do great there, _it said. _No, no, no. I want to be in Gryffindor,_ I told the hat. _Very well. SHE SHALL BE IN GRYFFINDOR!_, the hat yelled. I was so relieved that I almost didn't hear the really, really, really loud cheering that erupted. I went and sat next to Fred. Harry was put in Gryffindor, too, so more loud cheering erupted.  
Dumbledore gave warnings for us to stay out of the Forbidden Forest and out of the third floor corridor. He then told us to enjoy the feast. I ate till I was full and laughed and talked till it hurt. Fred and George were telling me about a prank they were planning to kick the school year off. They wanted me to help them and I, of course, said that I would. We made plans for later and then before I knew it, it was time for bed. Percy led us up to a portrait of a fat lady. Surprisingly, the photos here moves and talked. The fat lady asked us for the password and Percy said something in Latin that went in one ear and out the other. I resolved to learn it tomorrow.  
We climbed through the hole behind the portrait into a cozy room. There was a fire lit in the fire place and the décor was all in scarlet and gold. I liked it in there instantly. Percy went on to explain curfew, that our stuff has already arrived, and where we would be sleeping. I walked with Hermione to the girls dormitory. We had beds next to each other. We got ready for bed and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I woke up the next day excited. I couldn't wait to start classes. I practiced at home, like Hermione, because I still wasn't sure I was a witch. I found that it's a good thing that I was in choir and learned to enunciate when I talk. I practiced and was surprised to see that I can indeed do magic. I was excited and tried all the spells in the book. They all worked and it just made me even more excited.  
I got up and quietly began getting ready. I was getting my books in order together when a picture fell out the book I was reading. It was a picture of me with my family. My adoptive family. It was when we went to Wisconsin. My grandparents were standing in the back with my aunt, my uncle, and my mom. My older cousin Travis (he is 3 years older than me) and my younger cousin Robby (he is 3 years younger than me) were standing in front of them, and my cousin and best friend, Olivia, were kneeling in the front with our arms around each other. Olivia and I are the same age, but she is older by seven months.  
As I looked at the picture I realized how much I missed my family, even if it's only been a couple days. Olivia and I did everything together and now I would be missing out. I heard some yawn, so I quickly put the photo back into the book. I finished putting my books together and walked down in the common room. When I got in there I saw Fred and George waiting for me. I smiled and walked toward them.

"Hey guys. Ready to start the prank?" I asked. They smiled and motioned for me to put my books down. I did and followed them out into the castle. They stopped and got some things out of a little niche. They handed me some super glue and a box of chocolates that supposedly make you seem sick.  
We walked down to the dungeons toward the Slytherin common room. Once we reached it. They threw all the dung bombs into the room. We plugged our noses and ran to the bathrooms down there. I went into the girls bathroom while they went into the boys and put the superglue on the seats. I came out at the same time as them. We heard screams of disgust and ran upstairs and went to the kitchen. We replaced the chocolates for later that night with the ones from the box. Fred handed me some the chocolates that were safe to eat. I took them and thanked him. We walked back to our common room and ate our chocolates while doing so. We went in and saw that no one was in the common room yet. I went and collapsed onto the couch. I thought about the pranks and started laughing. They looked at me and then at each other and then joined in. They collapsed on either side of me and put their arms around me.  
"This is the start of a beautiful friendship. That was great. We never would have thought of putting superglue on toilet seats. I mean we've sent people toilet seats, but we've never put glue on them," said George. I smiled and rolled my eyes. Hermione came down the stairs and did a double take. She then smiled at me and glared at Fred and George. I guess she has heard of their reputation as notorious pranksters.  
"Good morning, Hermione. Did you sleep well last night?" I asked to end the awkward silence. She brightened and said that she slept well. Other people were starting to come down into the common room, so I got up and grabbed my stuff.  
"Hey, Hermione, want to walk down to breakfast with me?" I asked her. She nodded and smiled. I grabbed my stuff and we left the common room. As we walked down we talked about what books we like, what class we're most looking forward to, and what our respective countries are like. I learned that we like a lot of the same books and that we both like to really try hard in class.  
We walked into the Great Hall and went and sat down. People slowly started trickling in and when it appeared that everyone was there, the food appeared. I looked over at the Slytherins and they were all glaring at Fred and George. I could smell them from here and almost gagged. I started laughing really hard, so hard that Malfoy looked over at me. I gave him a look that said, _Want to mess with me now? _I high-fived Fred and George. When I turned back and faced Malfoy, I smirked at him. Realization dawned on his face. He glared daggers at me and got up and walked off. I turned back to my friends and started talking to them again. The owls all came in to deliver mail. I wasn't expecting anything and was surprised to get something from my mom. She wrote asking how I was and telling me what was going on at home. I wanted to cry, but held myself together. I looked up and saw that Neville got a remembrall, which I thought was pretty cool, except for the fact that it can't tell you what you forgot. I turned to Harry to show him that my mom wrote a portion for him and saw that he was reading the paper. After he finished he told us of the break in at Gringotts and how it had been emptied earlier by Hagrid when they were buying Harry's school supplies.

We were curious and wanted to find out more, but it was time to go to class. I walked with Hermione to Transfiguration. We sat down next to each other when we got there. On a big desk in the front of the room, sat a cat that sat so rigidly that I knew it was not a normal cat. Ten minutes after everyone got there, Ron and Harry showed up. They came running in. I laughed into my hand, while Hermione sighed. Ron was saying something about being glad that Professor McGonagall isn't there yet, when the cat turned into Professor McGonagall. She scolded them and then started class.  
Next we went to Potions. Potions was taught by Professor Snape in the dungeon. He was giving us a speech about Potions and so I started writing down what he was saying. He glared at me and stopped talking.  
"It seems as though our new celebrities feel as though they don't have to pay attention. Tell can either one of you tell me what a beezle is and where you can find it?" he said to Harry and I.  
"A beezle is a stone found in the stomach of a goat and will save you from most poisons," I told him. He glared at me.  
"What is the difference between monks wood and wolf bane?" he asked.  
"There is no difference. They are the same plant," I told him. He stared at me with his mouth open.  
"How did you know that?" he asked me, clearly in shock.  
"I studied all my textbooks before the term started. I was so excited that I couldn't wait," I said, honestly. He turned and looked at Harry.  
"I'm guessing that you didn't know these. I can see which one is like your mother and which is like your father," he sneered at us. He looked at me appraisingly and then walked back to the front of the room.  
"Well, why didn't you guys write this down?" he yelled. When Snape looked at me again I smirked and gave him a look that said, _What ya got next? _He scowled at me, but it looked like his heart wasn't into it.  
Next we had flying with Madam Hooch. We were all out in the courtyard, waiting for her to arrive Malfoy was bragging to Crabbe and Goyle about what a great flyer he was, probably hoping I would hear and change my mind about being his friend. I rolled my eyes and went back to talking to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Madam Hooch finally arrived and started barking out orders for what to do. We were suppose to hold our hands out over the broom and say up with feeling. The moment Harry and I did it the broom shot up into our hands. We turned and high-fived each other. Malfoy got his up after a few tries. Neville said up and his hit him in the head. After a while Madam Hooch told us to mount our brooms. As soon as Neville got on his broom started flying up uncontrollably. He flew around the courtyard and then ran into the school. He fell off his broom on to a decoration and then on to another decoration, finally he fell on the ground. Madam Hooch ran to him and checked him out. After discovering he had a broken wrist, she told us that she would have us expelled if we flew. She took him up to Madam Pomfrey.

I turned and saw Malfoy picking something up. It was Neville's remembrall. I walked over and told Malfoy to give it to me.  
"I think I'm going to put it somewhere for Longbottom to find it. I'm thinking maybe on the roof," he said. He got on his broom and started flying. I started after him, but Hermione tried to stop me. I shook her off and looked at Harry to see if he would help me. He nodded and got on his broom. Hermione muttered how we were idiots under her breathe. Together Harry and I flew up to face Malfoy. He flew off and made us chase him. When we cornered him, he decided to throw the remembrall as hard as he could. Harry and I both raced after it. By some miracle we both caught it at the same time. Harry let me fly down with it. Everyone was cheering and running toward us. However, when we touched down Professor McGonagall was walking toward us.  
Mr. and Miss Potter, please come with me," she said. Harry and I followed her. I turned back and saw that Malfoy was smirking at me. I glared and turned back around. Professor McGonagall led us into the castle and up to a classroom. She went in the classroom and came out with a boy, who was kind of cute and looked a lot like the older soccer players that were on my team.  
"Wood, I think I found you a new Seeker and Chaser," she told him. He looked at us carefully and then said something about testing us.  
*************************************************

Harry, Ron, and I were walking toward the Great Hall, talking about quidditch. Ron was going on and on about how we're the youngest to be on the team in a century. Fred and George came up beside us and congratulated us.  
"Way to go, Carmella, Harry. We're on the team to. We're beaters and it's our job to keep you guys safe. Don't worry though, no one has died in years. Disappeared but they showed up a month later," they said laughing. They waved bye and walked off. Harry started freaking out about making a fool of himself again. Hermione walked up to us and having heard what Harry was talking about told us about our father. She led us to the trophy and we saw our fathers name. After five minutes of staring we walked off toward the Great Hall. We went and sat down. I sat between Fred and George, because they saved me a seat. We were all laughing and eating, when Malfoy walked up. He strolled right up to Harry, who was on the other side of Fred.  
"Potter, I see you and your sister can't keep out of the spotlight, so you guys had to go and get in trouble," he said with a smirk. Crabbe and Goyle who came with Malfoy laughed. I glared and was about to smack him when I got a better idea. I feigned innocence.  
"You're right Malfoy," I said. Everyone turned and looked at me like I was crazy. I guess they'll see the truth in a little bit.  
"I am?" he asked, clearly confused and a little bit proud.

"Yeah and as a I'm sorry gift, why don't you have some chocolate. Crabbe and Goyle can have some, too," I said smiling sweetly, while turning and taking some off a tray. I saw Fred and George realize what I was doing and try hard to hold in there laughs. Everyone else just looked mad at me for agreeing with Malfoy. I handed them the chocolate and watched as they stuffed it into their mouths. I started to laugh really hard when they started to get sores all over them. Fred and George started laughing, too, and the rest of the Gryffindors joined us. Malfoy grabbed a spoon off the table and looked at himself. His glared at me when he saw what everyone was laughing at.  
"You filthy, little girl. How dare you? In fact if you think your so good at everything why don't you and your stupid brother come and duel in the trophy room tonight at midnight," he said. I looked him straight in his beady eyes told him to bring it. His eyes flared and he stormed off. I turned back to the table and sat down. Everyone started to high five me for standing up to Malfoy.  
"You're not really going to go are you, Carmella? That would be stupid," Hermione said after a little while. I felt a pang of guilt, but nodded anyway. Hermione sighed and muttered something under her breathe about how idiotic I am when it comes to pride.  
Later that night Harry, Ron, and I snuck out to the trophy room. Once we were out of the common room and through the portrait, we walked down the hallway a little bit only to come across Hermione and Neville. They were standing and looking very annoyed. When they saw us, Hermione's scowl deepened.  
"You know, I was really hoping you guys wouldn't be coming. I suppose I should go with you guys to keep you guys out of trouble since I can't get in," she said. I nodded and asked Neville if he was coming with. He shook his head and said that he was going to stay there.  
We left him there and made our way down to the trophy room. When we got there we saw that Malfoy wasn't there. We decided to wait, but after a while we heard Mrs. Norris. We could hear her padding down the hall. We knew that Filch would likely find us if we stayed where we are and so we bolted. We ran to the stair case and started up them. We were in the middle of going up a set of stairs when they started to change. We clung to the railing and waited for them to stop moving.  
The stairs moving was kind of scary so we went up the stairs on to the floor. We opened a door and went through it. We stepped into a weird and creepy corridor. We turned toward the door to leave when we saw Mrs. Norris. Knowing that Filch was nearby, we turned and ran down the hall. We came upon a door that was locked. Hermione unlocked it with a spell and we threw ourselves through the door. We closed it and held our breath. We could hear Filch on the other side of the door, muttering something about kids being out of bed. When he started retreating we let out our breaths and turned around. When we turned around we saw a giant, three headed dog glaring at us. We screamed and tore open the door. The dog tried to follow us through the door, barking at us, but we slammed the door in it's face. We ran away from the door and up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower. We found Neville asleep outside the portrait. We woke him up and went into the tower. Neville went straight to bed while we discussed what we saw.  
"Why would someone keep a three headed dog here?" Ron said, clearly still a little frightened. Hermione rolled her eyes.  
"Clearly it's guarding something. Didn't you see the trapdoor?" Hermione said. I nodded, remembering seeing the trap door. I looked at Harry and somehow (twin telepathy) I knew what he was thinking. Whatever Hagrid took from Gringotts, was being guarded by the dog. Whatever it was someone clearly wanted it if they broke into Gringotts for it and it had to be guarded by a three headed dog. I had a feeling that we were going to be researching more about this. I nodded at Harry and turned to Ron and Hermione. He started to explain his theory. They nodded and said it made sense.  
"Guys, it's late. Let's go to bed and we can regroup tomorrow," I said. They nodded and we walked off to our respective dormitories. I got changed for bed and climbed into my bed. I didn't want nightmares, so I pushed the thoughts of the dog to the back of my brain. I was about to drift off to sleep, when I realized that Malfoy set us up to get in trouble. With that last thought I fell asleep and for once in my life had a dreamless sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
A week later Harry and I went to meet Wood at the Quidditch stadium. We had their our brooms (both were Nimbus 2000s) that we received from McGonagall the day before in the mail. We didn't see Wood coming, so we decided to fly around. The Nimbus 2000 was easy to use. It turned with the slightest touch. I did some loops and zigzagged through the hoops.  
"You guys can come down now. Professor McGonagall was right. You guys are fantastic. So which one of you wants to be seeker and which wants to be a chaser?" Wood asked, looking at us like Christmas had came early. I smiled and flew down to him. I told him that I wanted to be the chaser. Harry touched down beside me and Wood began explaining the rules. _**(I'm not going to re explain them.) **_He explained what the red ball was (quaffle), what the two cannon ball like balls were (bludgers), and he explained about the tiny golden ball (Snitch) and what the positions on the team were (one keeper, two beaters, three chasers, and one seeker). He decided to show us what bludgers were like. He handed both of us a tiny bat.

"You're going to want that. Now bludgers will try to hit you, but you guys don't have to worry about them. The Weasley twins are our beaters and they are like a pair of human bludgers. They'll keep them from you, especially you," He said, directing the last part at me. I shrugged as if to say, _what can I say? I'm lovable. _He released the bludgers and they came straight towards us. Harry and I both beat the bludgers away as hard as we could. They went pretty far. Mine farther than Harry's.  
"Wow, Carmella. You could end up giving the twins a run for their money. Are you sure you wouldn't rather be a beater?" he said jokingly. I shook my head.

Then Wood gave me the quaffle and told me that I had to try and get it past him. I braced myself and flew toward Wood from down the field. I narrowed my eyes and somehow I saw what he thought I was going to do. Once I got near I faked him out and then threw the quaffle in. He stared at me in amazement. He then told me that we were going to do some more and that next time he wasn't going to go easy on me.

We did it at least 65 times and every single time I managed to get it pass him and make it. Wood stared at me and then broke out a huge grin. We both flew down and got off our brooms. He walked up to me and gave me a hug so big that I couldn't move. We walked down toward the other end of the field to see how Harry was doing. The twins had come and were throwing golf balls around for Harry to practice catching. When we got down there they stopped and turned to us wide eyed.  
"Harry caught every single one. He is seriously talented. How did Carmella do?" asked George. Wood went and explained how I scored every single time. He then told them that we were going to win the cup this year because they had us. Practice was over but the guys were still talking. Wood was excitedly going on about how he couldn't wait to see the look on Marcus Flint's face when we beat Slytherin. The twins were saying how they were going to have fun and Harry was hanging on to every word they said. I rolled my eyes and walked off, knowing that they probably didn't even notice me leave.  
Weirdly enough, I did feel eyes on me as I was leaving, but when I turned back there was no one looking at me. I waved it off and went into the castle to go start my homework.

A couple of weeks later, in Charms, Professor Flitwick decided it was time for us to learn to levitate things. Everyone was excited and couldn't wait. I sat next to Hermione and Harry after I grabbed my feather.  
"Wingardium Leviosa," I said, making sure I enunciated. My feather started floating into the air. Hermione's feather was a little bit higher, since she got it up before me, after telling Ron off for doing it wrong. Professor Flitwick was so happy that he fell off his desk. We heard an explosion and turned to Seamus. He had set his feather on fire. Everyone laughed.  
Later, we were walking in the courtyard. It was me, Harry, and Ron. Ron was complaining about Hermione. He was saying how it was no wonder why she doesn't have any friends. I was about to tell him that I was her friend when I heard something and turned around. I saw Hermione crying. She pushed past us. I glared at Ron.

"Nice going, Ron." I said, while I went to look for Hermione. I couldn't find her and eventually it was time for the Halloween feast. I went and tried to enjoy myself, but I couldn't.  
"Did you know Hermione is apparently crying in the girls restroom? I heard Pavarti Patil telling Lavender Brown," said Neville. I sighed, poor Hermione. I was about to get up and go find her when Professor Quirell came running in.  
"Tr-tr-troll in the dungeon. TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!" he shouted. Promptly after he told everyone, he fainted. Everyone started to panic. Dumbledore stood up and shouted at everyone to sit down.  
"Everyone calmly follow your prefects to your house. You will finish the feast in your common room. Teachers, please follow me to the dungeons," he said. I was walking with Fred, George, Ron, and Harry to the common room, when I realized something.  
"Fred, George I need you two to cover for Harry, Ron, and I. We have to go find Hermione," I said while grabbing Ron and Harry and pulling them after me. We ran to the girl's restroom and then heard a scream. I ran in and saw that the troll left the dungeon. It was the ugliest thing I had ever seen. It was huge, disgusting, and dumb-looking. I picked up some of the rumble on the ground and threw it at the troll. I knew it wouldn't hurt it, but it would take it's attention off Hermione, who was trying to hide under the sinks since the troll destroyed the stalls.  
"Hey stupid! You're so ugly that not even your mother could love you," I shouted at it. It turned on me and squinted it's beady eyes. It raised it's club at me and brought it down where I had been standing only seconds ago. I had just barely moved out of the way in time. Ron threw some more rumble at the troll and it turned to him. Harry then leaped on to the trolls shoulders. I yelled at Harry to distract it, so he shoved his wand up the troll's nose. The troll stopped and raised it's club to smack Harry with it.  
"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" I yelled, pointing my wand at the club. The club floated out of the troll's hand. Harry leaped off and I released the club and it fell on the troll's head, knocking him out. The troll fell forward with a thud. We high-fived and Harry went and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose.  
"Ew, troll boogers," he said. I laughed and went over to Hermione and helped her up. I asked her if she was okay. She said yes and gave us all hugs.  
"What are you three doing here?" they heard a very angry sounding Professor McGonagall ask. We turned slowly and saw her and Snape glaring at us.  
"Well' you see Professor….," Ron, Harry, and I began.  
"Professor, they came to save me. I have read about trolls and thought I could handle it. If they hadn't found me I would be dead," Hermione said. We all turned and gaped at her. She just lied to a teacher.  
"Very well. 5points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger. I expected better from you. And as for you three, 5 points to Gryffindor each. You guys are very, very lucky. Most first years couldn't take on a full-size mountain troll alone," she said, smiling as she said the last part. She and Snape sent us to join the rest of the Gryffindors. They turned and left and I noticed that Snape was limping as he walked. When we got back up to the common room I went and found Fred and George.  
"Thanks for covering for us," I said. They told me that it was no problem. They were telling me about our next prank. It was genius, but I couldn't concentrate. _Why was Snape limping?_  
I knew that if I tried to go to sleep that I would have a nightmare, so I tried to stay up as late as I could. Soon the only ones left up were Fred, George, and I. We made it into a contest. We stayed up talking and since we really didn't know much past the shallow, we got to really know each other. Eventually George gave up and went to bed. Fred turned to me.

"What's your deepest, darkest secret?" he asked me. I looked at him. With the look he gave me, I decided that I could trust him "My mom's boyfriend, Jason, looks at me in ways that make me feel uncomfortable. I had to lock my bedroom door at night. When my adoptive mom was working and I was home alone with him I locked myself in my room with a rape whistle and the phone," I told him. He looked at me a little confused, but also angry. I realized that he probably didn't know what a whistle and a phone were.  
"A rape whistle is something you blow into and it makes a sound that will alert someone of what is going on. A phone is something you can use to talk to someone who isn't near you," I explained. He nodded and the confused look left his face, but the angry look stayed.  
"I will never let anyone hurt you, Carmella. None of us will, you can bet on that," he said, while putting his arm around me protectively. I smiled and hugged him. I whispered thanks. The next thing I knew I woke up in my bed and sunlight was pouring in through the window. I got out of bed and saw that everyone was gone. I stretched and suddenly I realized it was Saturday. I grabbed my quidditch stuff. I soon realized that I missed breakfast and that I needed to get down to the locker rooms now.

I ran the whole way there. I burst in and everyone turned to me. Oliver looked relieved. The twins held up a cup and a bag with two glazed chocolate donuts in it. My eyes went wide and I rushed over and grabbed the food. I ripped open the bag, grabbed a donut, and stuffed it in my mouth. The twins, Harry, Katie Bell, and Angelina Johnson all laughed at me.  
"Sorry, but no one woke me up and I thought I would be playing on an empty stomach," I said, after I finished devouring the donuts. I drank my hot chocolate and turned to the twins. "This is why we're best friends. Thanks," I told them. They smiled and ruffled her hair. I turned and followed Katie and Angelina to where we would be changing.  
"You should have seen Oliver's face when you didn't show up for breakfast. He was worried that you were sick and couldn't play today. He kept trying to force first year girls to go look for you. Your one friend said that she tried to wake you up, but couldn't," Angelina informed me. _Oops, maybe I shouldn't have stayed up late with the twins, _I thought. Soon we were all ready. I grabbed my broom and went to knock on the door to see if it was safe for us to come in yet. I heard a muffled shout that sounded like they said that we could come in. We walked into the boys locker room and saw that they were sitting on the benches. I went and sat beside Harry and looked up at Oliver.  
"Okay men," Oliver started.  
"And women," said Angelina.  
"And women," said Oliver.  
"The big one," said Fred.  
"The one we've been waiting for," said George. I giggled into my hand.  
"We know Oliver's speech by heart. We were on the team last year," Fred told Harry and I.  
"Shut up, you two," said Oliver. "This is the best team we've had in years. We're going to win. I know it."  
He glared at us and I knew he meant "or else".  
Wood wished us luck and we walked out. I glanced over at Harry and saw that he was nervous. I reached over and grabbed his hand. I squeezed it and smiled at him when he looked up at me. He smiled back and turned back forward as if he was not quite as nervous as before.  
Madam Hooch was refereeing the game. She gave us the speech about having a fair game. She looked like she directing toward Marcus Flint, a six year that reminded me a little of the troll. She told us to mount our brooms. Once we were all on, she blew her silver whistle. We all rose in the air and as I rose I saw a banner flashing Go Harry and Carmella. I smiled and focused on the game. I could hear Lee Jordan, one of my friends, commentating.  
I saw that Angelina had the quaffle. I saw Flint snatch it from her. I raced to him and snatch the quaffle out of his hands. He still raced past me, so I figured he didn't realize I took it. I flew to the goals. I threw it in and scored points. I turned and saw Flint glaring me and Oliver smiling. The game progressed. I scored a lot of points, but didn't want to be a hog. I passed it to Katie and Angelina a lot. I had just scored when I saw Harry's broom going out of control. The twins were trying to get him safely onto one of their brooms, but it wasn't working. I was about to go help, when I felt my own broom going out of control. It felt as though it was trying to buck me off. I gritted my teeth and held on tighter. Fred noticed and raced to me. No one else had noticed me until Fred flew to me. They were focused on Harry. Fred tried to pull me onto his broom, but when I let go, my broom bucked me off. Fred had a hold of my hand and my other hand was hanging onto my still bucking broom. All of a sudden, it stopped. Fred helped pull me up onto my broom. Harry's stopped to and everyone started cheering.

We got back into the game. I grabbed the quaffle from Flint and raced down the field. I scored and then turned. I saw Harry and Terence, the Slytherin's seeker, neck and neck. They were both in a dive. Terence pulled out, but Harry kept going. Finally he leveled his broom. He started to get up and stand on his broom. He leaned forward and then fell off. I raced down to him. He stood up and looked like he was going to throw up. He spit something out into his hands and held it up. He caught the snitch in his mouth. Madam Hooch blew the whistle. The game was over and we had won 350 to 130. I ran to Harry and hugged him when I got off my broom. Everyone was confused. We walked into the locker room and changed. We met Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid by the doors. Together we all walked down to Hagrid's hut with Lee yelling the score and Flint saying we cheated behind us. Hagrid made Harry and I some tea. While we drank it Hermione told us about Snape. They also told me about this morning, when Snape took Harry's book and how Harry tried to get it back and what Snape and Filch were doing.  
"Rubbish, Snape would never hurt a student," Hagrid said. Hermione started talking about jinxing and eye contact. When we mentioned the three-headed dog, Hagrid looked at us, surprised.  
"How do you guys know about Fluffy?" he asked. Ron looked at Hagrid and asked how that thing's name could be Fluffy. Hagrid explained how Fluffy was his and how he got him. When he was about to say what Fluffy guarded he stopped.  
"That's top secret, that is," he told us. We argued that Snape is trying to steal it. Hagrid told us that he wasn't.  
"What Fluffy is guarding is between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel," Hagrid said.  
"So there's someone named Nicolas Flamel involved," I said. Hagrid looked very mad at himself

****************************************************  
Weeks passed and soon it was time for Christmas. There was snow on the ground and the lake was frozen solid. The twins and I got in trouble for bewitching snow balls to hit Professor Quirell in the back of his turban, yesterday. I was walking to breakfast with Hermione. We were talking about what our homes were like at Christmas.  
I was excited to go home. I was hoping to take Harry with us since he has never had a good Christmas. I went and sat in my usual spot between the twins and started to dig into my breakfast. Soon the owls started to deliver mail. My owl, Jasper, dropped a letter into my lap. I tore it open eagerly. It read:  
_Dear Carmella,  
I'm sorry but you can't come home for Christmas. I know you were probably looking forward to coming home. The thing is that we can't afford to fly you back right now. Grandma broke her leg and we had to use the money to pay her hospital bill. I will send your presents and Harry's to Hogwarts. I love you.  
Love,  
Mom  
_I started to cry. I was looking forward to introducing Harry to everyone and giving Harry a good Christmas. I really miss everyone and now I won't see them until the end of the year. I stopped crying and wiped my eyes. I would be strong and get over it. There was always next year. I finished my breakfast and then went to Potions. I walked in and took my place by Hermione. I heard Malfoy come in. Immediately he started taunting Harry.

"Hey Potter. Are you going to stay here or mooch off your sister's adoptive family? They didn't want an ugly little runt like you and now the poor people have to deal with you anyways," he said. I clenched my fist and got up. I wasn't in a good mood and I wasn't going to let Malfoy make it worse by picking on my brother.  
"Hey Malfoy, why don't you just shut up before I make you? I'm sick and tired of you, so SHUT UP!" I shouted at him. He turned to me with a look of fear on his face. Just last week I beat up him, Goyle and Crabbe. They were surprised when I punched them and that it hurt, bad. Now they won't mess with me.  
"Miss Potter and Mr. Malfoy, sit down," Snape said, as he walked in. I sat down and glared at Malfoy. Hermione whispered in my ear that I really need to learn how to control my temper. I sighed. She was right but it was so hard, especially when Malfoy made fun of my friends and family. I started to measure out the powdered spine of a lionfish. When Potions was over I went to go find Professor McGonagall. I showed her the letter from my mom, letting her know she had two last minute students staying at the castle. She nodded and I went to join Harry, Hermione, and Ron. When I joined them they were saying how we needed to go to the library.  
"Hey guys, hey Hagrid. Oh wow, it looks amazing in here," I said brightly, having got over my bad mood when I remembered that the Weasleys were staying, too. Hagrid waved but he looked sullen. I guess he found out we were still looking into Nicolas Flamel. We've been searching ever since Hagrid let it slip.  
We left Hagrid and went to the library. Hermione had a list of books and subjects she was searching and the rest o us were just looking for a book at random. I sighed, frustrated that we haven't found anything yet.  
After searching for a while we decided to give up for today. We met Harry outside the library. Sullenly, we walked to the tower.  
"You guys will keep looking while I'm gone won't you?" Hermione asked. I nodded and said that we would. I also said that I would send an owl to her if we found anything. Ron said something about how it would be safe for Hermione to ask her parents, to which she replied that it would be very safe since her parents were dentists.

During break I pulled pranks on teachers that were still there with Fred and George, played wizards chess with Ron and Harry (I found that I was pretty good, but not Ron good.), and I researched. I would have made the boys help me, but this was Harry's first good Christmas and Ron was keeping him busy. I wasn't making any head way and so I decided that I would wait until after Christmas to start again. I went to bed on Christmas Eve excited for tomorrow. I was hoping that everyone liked their presents.  
The next morning I practically jumped out of bed. I ran out of the girls dorm and into the common room still in my holiday pajamas. (My mom sent them for everyone.) I saw that everyone was already down there. We each grabbed a present. I grabbed a lumpy one that made me think it was clothes. Harry grabbed the one from my adoptive grandparents, Ron grabbed a lumpy package that resembled mine, Percy grabbed a lumpy present, too, and the twins grabbed the ones from me. I ripped the wrapping paper and saw that I had an ocean blue sweater and some fudge.  
"That's from Mom," Fred said. Percy sighed unhappily at the sight of his sweater, as did Ron. Harry looked at his giant box of clothes. I got his size so that they could send him clothes that fit him. Fred and George were grinning mischievously down at their present from me. I had got them an assortment of muggle and wizard pranking material. I also had Olivia send some cookies with it. Next, slowly we made our way through our presents. I got money, clothes, pranking material, books, a wooden flute, and food. Finally there were only two presents left under the tree. One was a small box with my name on it and another was a package with Harry's name on it.  
I squinted at the package for me. I opened all the presents from my family and my friends. What is this package? I grabbed it and tore the paper off. It was a jewelry box. I opened it and saw a note that said:  
_Carmella,  
This necklace was your mother's. She left it in my care before she died. I feel it is time to pass it down to you.  
_I saw the necklace and felt my breathe catch in my throat. It was a beautiful gold locket. The front had a diamond in the middle, and was surrounded by emeralds. It was gorgeous. Harry opened his package and pulled out a cloak. He had a note, too. He read and told us what it said. It was the same only his belonged to Dad.  
"Try it on, Harry," Ron told Harry. Harry did and his body disappeared. I gasped in shock. "Harry, you have an invisibility cloak. They are so rare." I laughed at Ron's amazement. I was also glad that Percy was gone, because he would try to confiscate it.  
"Hey, will someone please help me put my necklace?" I asked no one in particular. Fred took from me and told me to turn around. I moved my hair and turned around. He reached around me and put it on my neck. I turned back around and to face everyone.  
"Well what do you think guys?" I asked them. They all gave me a thumbs up. I rubbed my thumb over the diamond. Suddenly I heard gasps around the room.  
"Whoa, Carmella you're invisible. How come you both get cool things that make you invisible?" Ron exclaimed. I looked down and saw that I was indeed in visible. I grinned mischievously and moved silently away. I walked up to my dorm. I could hear them trying to find me. I rubbed my thumb over the diamond and I turned visible again. I quickly got dressed and rubbed my thumb over the diamond again. I walked back downstairs and saw that they were still trying to find me. I went and sat down where I was before. I rubbed the diamond and watched to see who would be the first to notice me.  
The first was Fred. He glared at me, while I sat there laughing. They all turned to me and glared. I saw the open drawer and laughed at Ron.  
"Ron, it's nice to know that you think I'm small enough to fit in the drawer," I said, laughing. Ron started grumbling and slowly they all went to get dressed. I decided that I didn't want to wait for them and went down to breakfast. After breakfast, the day went by fast soon it was time for the Christmas feast. There was food everywhere. I piled my food high on my plate. There were also amazing party favors. There were wizard crackers and the pudding had money in them. In fact, Percy almost broke his tooth on a silver sickle. The professors joked and Hagrid got drunk. He also kissed Professor McGonagall on the cheek, making her giggle. After Christmas dinner we went outside and had a snowball war. Later that night as I was laying in bed, I realized that we could finally check the restricted section.

I got up and rubbed my necklace. I snuck out of my room and into Harry's. I went over to his bed and shook him awake.  
"Harry, wake up. We have research to do," I whispered. He opened his eyes and looked at me groggily. He jumped when he saw no one there.  
"Harry, come on. Grab your cloak and come on. We have research to do," I told him. He groaned and got up. He grabbed it and a lantern. We took off to the library. Once we got into the restricted section, we split up. I was looking through them when a bloodcurdling scream sounded. I quickly ran to where it was and found Harry shoving a book back into the bookcase. Harry dropped the lantern when we heard footsteps.  
"Run," Harry told while grabbing my hand to pull me along. We ran down a series of corridors until we no longer knew where we were. All of a sudden we heard voices.  
"Professor, you ask me to come to you if someone's been wandering around at night and someone's been in the library, Restricted Section," said Filch.  
"The restricted section? They couldn't have gotten far," Snape replied. They were rapidly approaching Harry and I. I saw a slightly open door and pulled Harry in. We held our breathe until they past. Once they past we let the breathe out and turned around. There was a mirror that almost made me scream. First of all, I could see myself in the mirror even though I was still invisible. Second of all, there was a whole crowd of people standing behind me.  
I turned and saw no one there. I notice Harry was looking around, too. I looked back into the mirror and saw that the people were still there. There was a man with jet black hair, who looked like Harry. There was also a woman with emerald green eyes who looked like me. With a start I realized that they were my parents and the people behind them must be our ancestors. We stood there for who knows how long until a noise brought us back. We carefully snuck back up, after promising that we would come back.  
The next morning Ron was cross at us for not including him. We told him all about the mirror and about not finding anything on Flamel. He kept shoveling bacon in his mouth and nodding.  
"We're going back tonight. You should come with. I want to see your family," Harry said.  
"Just come around my house this summer. You'll meet everyone," Ron replied.  
Later that night we went looking for the mirror again. We almost didn't find it, but we finally spotted the suit of armor. We quickly found the room from there. When I looked in the mirror again, I saw my family standing around me. I grinned and pulled Ron forward so he could see them.  
"Do you see them?" I asked, excitedly.  
"No. The only thing I see is you," he replied. I pulled him in front of the mirror and stood back.  
"Do you see your family?" I asked. He stood transfixed on the mirror.  
"No. I'm alone and I look older. I'm head boy," Ron exclaimed, happily.  
"What?" I asked confused. I turned and looked at Harry. He looked just as confused as me.  
"I'm holding the house cup and the quidditch cup. I'm quidditch captain, too," Ron went on. He turned to look at us. "Do you think this shows the future?"  
"How can it? Our family is dead," replied Harry, sullenly. They started arguing over who should get to stand in front of the mirror, when I heard something. The ceasing of the argument told me that they heard it, too. Mrs. Norris came around the corner and stood there. We had just turned invisible in time. After a while, she kept moving. They decided to call it a night after that close encounter.  
The next morning the snow was still on the ground. Ron had just asked us what we want to do. There was only one thing I truly wanted to do, but going in broad daylight was too risky. Ron realized what we wanted to do and warned us that it wasn't safe. Harry stared glumly at his food and I decided that I was going to make the time pass by fast.  
"Hey Fred, George. Want to pull a prank today?" I asked the twins. They gave me a look of utter amazement.  
"What kind of question is that? If I didn't know better I would say that you didn't know us at all," George replied. I laughed and we started planning. Later that afternoon we blew up a firecracker display in the Hufflepuff common room.  
Soon it was time to go back to the mirror. When Harry and I got there, we both sank to our knees in front of the mirrors. Mom and Dad waved and smiled at us. There was no one stopping them from being there all night with their family. Except-

"Back again?" Dumbledore asked.  
"I didn't see you, sir" Harry said.  
"Strange how nearsighted being invisible can make you," Dumbledore replied, smiling. "So you guys, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised."  
"I didn't know it was called that, sir," I said.  
"I expect you guys realize what it does by now," Dumbledore said.  
'Well it shows us our family," I said.  
"And it shows your friend, Ron, as head boy," said Dumbledore.  
"How did you know?" Harry asked.  
"I do not need a cloak to make myself invisible," Dumbledore said, gently. "Now, can you think of what the Mirror of Erised shows us all?" We shook our heads no.  
"Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the mirror as a regular mirror, that is he would look into the mirror and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help?" Dumbledore explained.  
"It shows us what we want…whatever we want," Harry said slowly.  
"Yes and no," said Dumbledore. "It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You guys, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible."  
"The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow and I ask you guys not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now, why don't you guys put on that admirable cloak and rub that necklace and get off to bed?"  
We stood up.  
"May I ask you a question, sir?" asked Harry.  
"Obviously, you just done so," Dumbledore smiled. "However you may ask me one more thing."  
"What do you see when you look into the mirror?" Harry asked.  
"I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks."

Harry and I stared at him.  
"One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I haven't gotten a single pair of socks. People will insist on giving me books."  
Back in bed it occurred to me that Dumbledore might not be telling the truth. As I thought about it, though, it was kind of a personal question.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
Dumbledore convinced us not to look for the mirror. As much as I loved seeing my family, I was sort of relieved. The mirror scared me a little and Harry was becoming too attached. Ron told me how Harry had nightmares at night after we stopped going to the mirror.  
"Dumbledore was right. That mirror does drive people insane," Ron said one day.  
Hermione came back the day before term started. When she found out she was torn between being mad at us for being out of bed at night and being disappointed that we didn't find anything about Nicolas Flamel.  
I could tell that all of us were losing hope of finding Flamel in a library book. When term started we were back to searching during breaks. Harry and I had less time them Ron and Hermione, too. Oliver was working the team harder than ever. Even with the endless rain that replaced the snow, Wood worked us. The twins and I grumbled about how he needed to lighten up, but I could tell Harry was on Oliver's side. If we beat Hufflepuff, then we would overtake Slytherin in the house cup for the first time in seven years.  
One particularly muddy day, Wood gave us bad news. After he yelled at the twins and me for messing around, he told us that Snape was refereeing the match. I scowled, knowing that Snape would look for any excuse to knock points off us. While I may be his favorite Gryffindor, he still doesn't like me. George fell off his broom when he heard this.  
"Snape's refereeing?" he asked. "Snape never referees matches. He won't be fair if we're going to overtake Slytherin."  
"I know. That's why were going to have to play a clean game," Oliver said in reply.  
Harry and I exchanged worried looks. We had our own reasons for not wanting Snape to referee.  
After practice, Harry and I planned to go straight to the common room to find Ron and Hermione. We were halfway there when I realized I forgot my wand. I told Harry to go ahead and that I would catch up. I went back and grabbed my tie. I was heading to the door when I heard my name.  
"Carmella is pretty cool. She's very smart and really nice. Hilarious, too. Too bad she's not pretty enough to get a boyfriend. Poor girl is going to be alone forever," I heard Angelina say. I heard Katie say something in agreement. I stood there in shock. Tears started to run down my face. I turned and ran out of the locker room. I thought she was my friend. I knew I couldn't go back to the common room like this, so I ran an empty classroom. I closed the door and sank to the ground. I curled up in a ball and just cried my eyes out.  
I didn't hear the door open or see who came in. I jumped when someone put their hand on my shoulder. It was George. I sat up and wiped my tears away.  
"Carmella, why are you crying?" he asked. I didn't answer. Instead I looked anywhere but at him. He sighed when he realized I wasn't going to tell him.  
"What are you doing here and where's Fred?" I asked him after a bit.  
"Well, Fred is in detention. Earlier we pulled a prank and they caught him and not me. He took the detention by himself. As to why I'm here, everyone's looking for you. When you didn't show up in the common room, we all started to worry," he answered. It was silent, again. I didn't think my absence would be noticed.  
"Tell me why you're crying. If you don't, I'll tickle you until you do," he said.  
I laughed. He sounded like my best friend from back home, Hayley. Hayley was my pranking buddy from back home. While Olivia and I were best friends, too, Hayley and I were closer. We were so alike it was creepy. We liked the same music, books, hobbies, musicals, everything. We both loved pranking, too. I had met her in soccer. We were the only girls on the team and we were the best, too. Hayley had long, light brown hair and blue eyes. She was a little bit shorter than me and had slightly tan skin. We even had the same temperament. She and the twins would get along well.  
"I was crying because I heard some girls who I thought were my friends, saying that I would never get a boyfriend and that I would always be alone. It's just a petty thing. I don't know why I was crying really," I said.  
"Who?" he asked. I shook my head indicating that I wasn't going to tell him. He sighed, but realized that nothing was going to get me to tell him who.  
"Fine, but don't listen to them. You are an amazing girl and any guy would be lucky to have you. In fact, I know someone who has a crush on you," he said. I turned toward him after hearing the last part.

"Who?" I asked. He shook his head. The look he gave me said, _You got your secrets and I've got mine. _He stood up and offered me his hand. I took it and he pulled me up. I brushed the dirt off my skirt.  
"Come on. Everyone's worried about you," he said. We went to the common room. When we entered Hermione rushed over to me. She hugged me tightly. Harry came over and did the same. Ron did, too.  
"Where were you?" Hermione asked, concern all over her face. I was about to answer when Neville fell through the portrait. How he got through was anyone's guess, because he had the Leg- Locker Curse holding his legs together. Everyone started laughing except Hermione and me. Hermione went over to Neville and performed the counter curse.  
"What happened?" she asked.  
"I met Malfoy outside the library. He said that he needed someone to practice on," Neville replied.  
"Report him," Hermione said, immediately.  
"I don't want more trouble," Neville said while shaking his head.  
"Stand up to him," I said.  
"Yeah! Just because he is used to walking all over people, isn't a reason to lie down and make it easier," Ron said.  
"You don't need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor. Malfoy has already told me that," Neville said, quietly.  
"You're worth twelve of Malfoy," said Harry, while handing Neville a chocolate frog. Neville took it and unwrapped the frog.  
"Thanks," Neville said gratefully. "Do one of you want the card?"

I took and looked at it. It was Dumbledore. I turned it over and read the back, curious as to what it would say. Once I read the back, I gasped.  
"Guys, I found Nicolas Flamel!" I exclaimed, excitedly. They all looked at me with wide eyes.  
"It says here on the back that Dumbledore was known for work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel," I read to them.  
"I knew I read his name somewhere. I read it on the train coming here," Harry exclaimed.  
Hermione jumped up excitedly. I hadn't seen her that excited since we got our marks for our first homework. She ran up to the dorm and came back a few minutes later carrying a huge book.  
"I never thought to look in this. I borrowed it a couple of weeks ago for light reading," she told us. I giggled at her definition of light reading.  
"Light?" Ron asked incredulously, but Hermione just told him to be quiet. She flipped through the pages for a couple of minutes and then stopped. Ron asked if he could talk yet, but Hermione ignored him.  
"I knew it! I knew it!" she exclaimed. "Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone."  
When Ron and Harry gave her blank looks that meant they didn't understand, Hermione sighed. She pushed the book across the table so that they could read. Once they were done Hermione explained that Flamel must have asked Dumbledore to guard it.  
"No wonder Snape's after it. Who wouldn't want that?" Harry said.  
"Guys, this is even more reason you shouldn't play inn the match. Snape might go after you," Hermione said. I guessed Harry told them about Snape.  
"I'm playing. I can't let Snape think I'm afraid of him. Besides if we're going to win, then we're going to have to play," I said. Hermione sighed, frustrated. She started muttering about how Harry and I were to stubborn for our own good.  
As the match drew closer, people grew more nervous. It seemed like Harry and I were running into Snape everywhere. I even wondered if he had started following us. Potions became worse than usual. He started testing us on stuff we haven't covered in class yet. I would probably fail if I didn't read the whole book and if I didn't have a photographic memory. I wondered if he knew that we knew about the Sorcerer's Stone.  
On the day of the match, Ron and Hermione wished us luck, looking at us as if they might not see us alive again. They soon left and walked into the locker room. We got ready and then went and sat for the group pep talk that Wood gives. Wood pulled Harry and I aside.  
"Harry, we need you to try and catch the snitch early. Carmella, we need you to score as many points as possible until your brother catches the snitch," Wood said. "No pressure, but we need to win the game before Snape favors Hufflepuff too much."  
"Wow. Everyone's here. Even Dumbledore," Fred said. My heart swelled. If Dumbledore was here, Snape wouldn't try anything. Harry and I peeked out and saw that Dumbledore was indeed here.  
As we were heading out I noticed that Snape wasn't looking particularly happy today. I gulped. Soon we were in the swing of the game. I didn't take time to pass it today, I just scored again and again. So far the only penalty we had was because George hit a bludger at Snape. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Malfoy messing with Ron and Neville. I decided to go "straighten" that out later. I scored again and looked to see how Harry was faring. He was streaking down toward the ground. He pulled up and held something up. He caught the snitch in less then 10 minutes! I started cheering along with everyone else. We all touched down and hugged Harry. Dumbledore came down and told us that he was glad that we haven't been brooding about the mirror.  
Suddenly I was being lifted up into the air. The twins picked me up and put me on their shoulders. Oliver was on the other side of George and they Lifted Harry up onto their shoulders. I laughed and grasped Harry's hand. I raised it up and everyone started cheering louder. It felt good to be known for something that you could actually remember.  
After changing, Harry and I walked to the broom shed to put our brooms away. I was still feeling the euphoria from earlier. We had shown Snape….. Speaking of Snape I saw a hooded figure leaving the castle and going straight to the Forbidden Forest. The victory faded from my mind, when I realized that the figure walked just like Snape. I turned to Harry to see if he noticed. One look at him and I knew that not only did he notice, he was having the same thoughts as me. Quickly we jumped onto our brooms and took off after Snape.  
We almost lost him. The trees were so think that we had to fly in low circles until we heard voices. We landed noiselessly in a huge beech tree. In a clearing below stood Snape with Professor Quirrell. I had to strain to hear what they said.

"…d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus…" Quirrell stuttered.

"I thought we would keep this private," Snape said icily. "Students aren't suppose to know about the Sorcerer's Stone."  
Quirrell was mumbling something I couldn't hear. Snape interrupted him.  
"Have you figure out how to get past Hagrid's yet?" Snape asked.  
"B-b-but Snape, I-" Quirrell started.  
"Trust Quirrell. You don't want me as an enemy," Snape said menacingly.  
"I-I don't know what you…" Quirell tried.  
"You know very well what I'm talking about," Snape said, eyes flaring.  
Harry and I nearly fell out of the tree when an owl hooted loudly. We righted ourselves and heard the end of what was saying.  
"…your bit of hocus pocus. I'm waiting," Snape said.  
"B-b-but I-I d-don't know what…" Quirrell stuttered.  
"Fine. We will be having another chat soon. Use the time to think of where your loyalties lie," Snape said as he threw his cloak over his head. Snape strode out of the forest and back to the castle. Quirrell was still standing there, petrified.  
We quickly left and put our brooms away. We went to the tower and saw Ron and Hermione there waiting for us. Once we got in there Hermione asked us where we've been.  
"We won! We won!" Ron shouted, happily while thumping Harry on the back and hugging me. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Neville even took on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed. He's out cold but Madam Pomfrey said that he would be alright. Everyone's waiting for you guys in the common room, we're having a party. Fred and George stole some cake and stuff from the kitchen."  
It sounded like fun but first we had to tell them about what happened in the forest.  
We found an empty room and closed the door. After making sure Peeves wasn't in there, we told them what we saw. Hermione said that there was probably loads of enchantments and spells protecting the stone.  
"Snape must only need to get past the dog and Quirrell's protection. That means that Professor Quirrell is the only thing standing between Snape and getting the stone," Hermione said.  
"It'll be gone by Tuesday," said Ron. I chastised him for being pessimistic, even though I knew that it was true. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat there staring off into space. Honestly, they were acting all depressed and I couldn't handle it for too much longer. I was a person who thrived on joy and laughter. I decided that I needed to go spend time with the two guys who thrived on it, too.  
"Look guys, I know that this is important, but I'm going to the party. I want to have fun and relax for a little bit. See ya," I said. I then turned and walked back tot the tower. I walked into the common room and saw everyone talking and dancing to the music playing. When everyone saw me they started to cheer. Fred and George came onto either side of me and picked me up. I laughed and told them to put me down. They did and smiled at me.  
"You were great, Carmella!" Fred exclaimed, giving me the same crooked smile he gave me the first day we met. I smiled and thanked him. The song switched to "Toy Soldiers" by Marianas trench. I smiled and pulled the twins onto the makeshift dance floor. Marianas Trench was my favorite band and it was obviously a muggleborn's music that was playing. Once we were on the dance floor I started dancing. I laughed as Fred and George did the goofiest dance moves that they could think of. Fred was doing the Charlie Brown and George was doing the robot. I was laughing so hard. I decided to join them and did the sprinkler. Everyone started looking at us weird and then laughing and some even joined.  
The next song that came on was the "Cha Cha Slide". I told them that the guy tells us want to do. Soon everyone was doing it and laughing. Next was the "Cupid Shuffle". That was by far everyone's favorite. Soon we decided to call it a night. I went to bed that night with my last thought being that today was totally awesome.


End file.
